Santucci Perugino, Ercole
'Mastro da Ballo' (Dancing Master) 1614

Mastro da Ballo die Ercole Santucci Perugino: diviso in Tre Trattati con il quale ogni scolaro potrà facilmente [recte: facilissimamente] imparare ogni sorte di Ballo, senza altra scola. Faksimile der Handschrift Perugia 1614. Foreword by Bengt Häger. Introduction by Barbara Sparti.

The facsimile edition of the italian text is accompanied by an eight-chapter introduction in English, including an historical overview of the dance of the period, information about Santucci and dance in Umbria, and the history and description of the Mastro da Ballo itself. Each treatise has its own Commentary (with an index for the steps discussed). Santucci's dance manual is divided into three treatises and includes 214 Rules for Steps and Deportment, gagliarda variations, and ten choreographies. Santucci's step rules not only present many important variants on "old" steps but also describe others for the first time that point to a new style, suggesting a bridge between the Italian style of Caroso and Negri and the emerging French noble style. Santucci furthermore provides an extremely clear didactic way of teaching gagliarda "cinque passi" variations, of great help and utility even today. His progression from simple to complex leads to complex variations. XIV,97*,474 Seiten und 11 Tafeln, Leinen (Carina Ari Library Publications; No. 1/Olms Verlag 2011)